Internal-combustion motor.



' 3 Sheets-Sheet I Patented :une l2, 1900.

H. T. & H. A. DAWSON. INTERNAL CGMBUSTIUN MOTOR. (Application med Ju1y`1o, 1899.)

No. 65|,78(J.

(No Model.)

nfe SS 6,3, 13T/v. @H2/50 T5, cfm, im, wf- #MUM No. 65|,780. Patented lune l2, |900. H. T. & H. A. DAWSON.

`INTERNAL COMBUSTION MOTOR.

(Applicatn led July 10, 1899,)

(nu Model.) 1 3 sheets-sheet 2.

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N0. 65|,78U. PaBhed lUnB l2, |900.

' H. T.V. H. A. DAWSON.

lNTERNAL CMBUSTN MOTOR.

(Appxiation med Juiy 1o, 1899.) (No Modal.)l 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Flex/IL TN: Nonms PETERS co., #morn-uwe.. wAsmua'roN, n. c.

NITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY `T. DAWSON AND HENRY ALFRED'DAWSON, OF CANTERBURY, ENGLAND.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION MOTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,780, dated June 12, 1900.

Application inea my 1go, 1899.`

Serial No. 723,400. (No model.)

Yreversin g gear.

"0 @ZZ wtom it' may com/c1 n.:

Be it known that we, HENRY THOMAS DAW- SON and HENRY ALFRED DAWSON, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at In the accompanying drawings, Figure Iis an elevation, mostly in section, of a motor constructed according toour invention. Figs. Il, III, and IV show various positions of the augmenting and non-return valves. Fig. V is a plan, partly in section, of the slide-valve- Fig. VI is a vertical section of the starting-valve. Fig. VII is a plan, partly in section, showing three motors coupled together.

Like numerals refer to like parts in all the figures, which are drawn to various Scales.

To attain our objects, we provide the motor with two cylinders 2 3, hereinafter referred to as the combustion cylinder and the air-cylinder, respectively. The two cylinders are arranged in line and the ai r-cylinder forms an enlarged-continuation of the cornlmstion-cylinder. They may be cast in one piece or built up. The two pistons 4 5 are preferably in oneV piece, as' shown, the combustion-piston 4 being contin uedand enlarged to form an annular air-piston 5. They are preferably both connected to the one crank G by the piston-rod 119, though they may be separate or connected to the same or separate cranks, if desired. The combustioncylinder is fitted with the usual admission and exhaust valves 7` and 8, respectively, and some suitable ignition device, and the motor Works normally on the Otto cycle.

The air-cylinder 3 is fitted with a slide or other valve 10, as on a steam or compressed air-engine. This valve works synchronously with the crank-shaftll and is fitted with a reversing-gear, hereinafter described, so that this part of the motor will on the application backward, or, if mechanically driven, it will act as a pump in either direction.

The air-cylinder is employed for three purposes first, to compress air through the pipe 12 into the reservoir 13 up to a pressure deitermined by an adjustable safety-valve 14, which is mounted on the said pipe between the engine and the reservoir; secondly, `on admission of the compressed air from the reservoir (or of other fluid-pressure) to the aircylinder the piston 5 therein will be moved and the motor started, and, thirdly, the aircylin'der is employed to pumpairinto the combustion-cylinder 2 in such a way as both to assist in the expulsion of the Waste gases and also to increase the quantity of pure air iu the charge, and hence its working pressure.

In addition to the slide-valve 10 or other mechanically-worked valve above referred to the air-cylinder is fitted with a valve 15, (hereinafter referred to and which normally acts as a non-return valve,) which may also be operated by hand. The face of this valve is preferably recessed to increase the area on which the air may act when lifting it, thus ot uuid-pressure drive either forward or reducing the back pressure when charging opens from the non-return-valv'lox 17 into f the combustion-cylinder at such a point that it is only opened by the piston tat the end of the said pistons outward stroke. A third valve 18, hereinafter referred to as the augmentiug-valve,7 covers the port 16 where it opens into the said valve-box 17and is jointed 3(131) to the tail 19 of the non-return Valve 15, so that' both valves 15 and 18 may be worked together through the rod 2O by the hand-lever 21, pivoted at 22; but the parts are so proportioned and arranged that if the handle be set in its middle position both the non-return valve v15 and the augmentingvalve 18 will cover their respective ports 16 IOO and 25 at the sameti-in-e, as shown at Figs, 'l and 11.,.wheu air will be pumped fromrthe air-cylinder 3 through the pipe 12 into the reservoir 13, the valve 15 lifting to allow of this.. .If `when the motor is at rest the han- -dle be set back, the augmenting-valve Will ystima-.cloveriits,` port 16;.biut the non-return.- valve 15 will be opened, Fig. Ill, and `(provided the starting-valve also be opened) the compressed air will return from the reservoir through the pipe 12 and port 2 5 and act on-j the `piston 5, so as to start the iiiotor. If the 2 l vy i 'V 651,780

rying a spur-pinion or sector 3 2, concentric with its fulcruin 33, the teeth of the pinion or sector engaging with the annular teeth of a rack 34, turned upon the end of the shaft.

Thev rod 35, Fig. I, working the slide-valve valve-handle 2i be setwforward, the anginent- Y ing-valvelS willlb'e opened andthe non-re-.f turn valve 15 will be closed, so that all the air 4passing through the non-return valve f rbni the air-cylinder Venters the combustioncylinder k2j at the end of each ouistroke of its piston Lf 'lhe airwhich so enters at the end o f the explosion-outstroke drives out most of the burned gases through the exhaust-valve Sbetfore the said piston commences its exhaust-.instroke, andat the completion of the exhanst-instlokewhat remains in the coinbiistionchamber is nearly pure air. At the completion of the next it'. @.uthe suction) o.ut-.`

Ialso the resulting combustion-pressure, more Strbke another supplyof air from the aircylinder Aenters the combustion cylinder, where it'augrnents the charge just sucked in, thus raising the compression-pressure-and @.Qlllbnstible material being also added to mix with the augmented air charge. The non-return valve 15 and the augmenting-valve 1S cannot both be open atthe same time. The nonreturn valve l is fitted with a weak spring and the vaugutientiiig-valve 1S is fitted with a strong spring. Both springs .may be formed, if desired, from one blade 5.0, as shown, (though this is not essential,) the one end of the' spring being turned over and provided with a? pin 128 to eiigagein a Arecess 129 in the back of the-augmenting-valve 18 and insuring that the spring shall travel with the d valves and the other end of the spring greceived between lateral guides 130 on the. such springs are preferably employed, one on each side of `the tail 19 of the valve 15.

V Anysuitable kind of reversing-gear may be used to convert the air-cylinder from a pump to a ,motor or to reverse its direction asa Inotor; but we prefer to'employ the device shown inv Fig. V, wher ei n aneccentric disk 26, having a non-circular hole 2 7 passing obliquely therethrough, isniounted between two guides 28, which prevent lateral motion, while leaving it (2 6) free to in ovein'its own plane. This eccentric disk is mounted on a shaft 29, the parts 30, adapted to slide through the oblique hole 27,'being made of corresponding section and set at the same angle as such hole, 'so that byinoving the shaft lengthwise the eccentricity of the disk may be altered or reversed as required. vThe longitudinal move- 11.19.111'. of the shaft 29 may be effected by any suitable means, such as a hand-lever 31, car- 1 with the axis of the exhaust-valve 8.

back of the lilou-return valve 15. Two of the lett, the engine v drives forward. When the handle isset over-to the right, the eccentricity of the disk 26 is reversed andthe engine drives backward, and when the handle `is set in the middle position, as shown in `full lines, the .disk 26 assumes a position concentric with the shaft 29, the valve-rod 35 and valve 10,reniaining stationary, andthe pneu- -matic portion of the motor is rendered ineiective, the engine working as a combustion-motor only. On another shaft 40, Fig. I,

driven at halfthe speed of the crank-shaft 11 th rnughv the shaft 29 by the two-to-one gear 41.42, a cam 4.3is mounted Adirectlyin line The said valve is acted o n bythe cain through the medium of a roller 44 and is normally held closed by a suitable spring 45, which also carries the said roller, preferably no transmission -levers being employed. VThe exhaust-valve is made of large bulk to prevent `its overheating.

The cani-shaft or. the cani itself on the shaft has s uiieient backlash to enable it to ass u me the rightly-ti med position for opening the exhaust-valve inA whichever direction the engine may be running.

" The admission-valve 7 is of the Well-known automatic mushroom typo. An elastic tongue or lever 4:6 is pivoted at 47 with its Lipper eiid in the path of thelower end of the ln-return-valve hand-lever 21, so that when setting the handle back for starting the admission-valve is automatically-raised slightly from its seat and the compression is temporarily relieved. When a certain speed has `been attained, the pressure ot' the elastic tongue is overcome,- the admission-valve closes, and full compression is obtained. The

closing of the nonreturn valve by moving forward the handle 21 allows the tongue to withdraw from the admission-valve spindle.

The air pumped into the reservoir passes through a second non-return valve, hereinafter referred vto as the starting-valve 48, Fig. VI. This starting-valve is normally alitomatic, being provided with a light tensionspring 51, whichallows the air to be pumped through the pipe 12 into the reservoir 13. To

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' by its-spring 51: but in order to start the en-V gine the valve 52 can be lifted from its .seat against the reservoir-pressure and the spring 51 by the handle 49, thus allowing the compressed air to rush back from the reservoir into the air-cylinder behind the piston 5.

The engine may be constructed so that the cylinders 2 3, being cast in one piece, practically forni the frame, while the crank-shaft bearings 120 are carried by stanchions 121, which also serve as bolts for the combined bearing-caps and frame-supports 122. Any number of these engines may be coupled together on one crank-shaft, the stanchions carrying the bearings 120 at one end and at the otherend passing through lugs 123 on the cylinders, arranged so as to lock together each pair of adjacent cylinders, as shown in the plan, Fig. VII. With this construction the valve-shafts 29 and 40 are made long enough to serve all the cylinders and all the air-cylinders pump into a single reservoir through a common main 124.-, while the nonreturn 15 and augmenting valves 18 are united by a rock-shaft worked by the single hand-lever 21. All the eccentrics 26 may be altered or reversed simultaneously by the rack-and-pinion device 32 34: already described. If three motors be so coupled together, their cranks are arranged at one hundred and twenty degrees and their other parts are correspondingly arranged relatively to one another, so that the crank-shaft 11 may be started or reversed from any position in which it may have come to rest without any possibility of its sticking on a dead-center. r

Referring more particularly to the plan, Fig. VII, the com mutator 114, with itsinsnlating-shield 9 for connecting up the sparkingplugs 115 at the right intervals, will be seen at one end of the half-speed shaft 40, and close by is the contact-breaker ring 97, which in this case will have three detents 98 at one hundred and twenty degrees apart. This shaft carries the exhaust-cams 43 and at its other end the large spur-wheel 41, which meshes with the smallwheel 4:2 of the two-toone gear. Rigidly connected to the spurwheel 42 is a sprocket-wheel 38, both being secured to the eccentric shaft 29 by the feather 126, so that the said shaft may move axially through the said wheels without allowing of independent rotary motion of the parts. The wheel 38 is driven from the wheel 39 of equal size'on the crank-shaft 11 through a suitable pitch-chain, so that the shafts 11 and 29 necessarily rotate at the same speed.'

The angular parts 3() of the shaft 29 are set in planes situated at angles of one hundred and twenty degrees to each other, and the rack 34 and pinion 32, by which all three slidevalves 10 are simultaneously operated, will be seen at the end of this shaft.

The right -hand motor is shown as cut through in the plane of the lower facing of the slide-valve l0, the double lines indicatl the Valve-springs are also visible. tion of these valves corresponds to that shown `in Fig. IV and the middle crank 125 is vertiing thel position of the boy of this valve The valve' 10 itself is shown in nearly the same position as in Fig. I, the right crank 125 being about thirty degrees below the horizontal backward. The center motor is shownas eut through in the plane of the upper facing of the augmenting-valve 18 and non-return valve 15, the jointing of the tail 19 of the latter to the back of the former being clearly indicated. The recesses 129 and guides 130 for The posically upright. The left-hand motor is complete, and above it is shown part of the air- 4main 127, with which'the pipe 12 communicates. The corresponding crank 125 is thirty degrees below the horizontal forward. The circulating-pump communicating with the water-jackets 124 would be placed at this end of this crank-shaft 11 outside the sprocketwheel 39 and the oilpump and governor would be placed at the other end of the said shaft. y

The action of the engine is as follows: On the first occasion of starting the crank-shaft 11 is turned by the ily-wheel or handle (not shown) until a compression and explosion are obtained; .but this is not necessary on future occasions unless insufficient compressed air is left in the reservoir. On restarting the enginethe handle 21 is pulled back to close the augmenting-valve 18 and open the non-return valve 15, at the same time slightly opening the admission-vz'llve 7 to ease the compression. 'lhe handle 31 is set over to the left or right, according to the direction in which it is desired that the engine shall drive, the oil or gas supply is opened, and then the lever49 is depressed to open the valve Ll8,where upon some of the compressed air stored in the reservoir 13 rushes through the pipe 12 and port 25 to act upon the air-piston 5, which it moves forward. The engine being thus started',` the oil or gas feed and the ignition devices are brought into operation and after a fewstrokes of the pistons f1 5 the startinglever 19 may be released, when the engine will be driven by the explosion of the vaporized oil, and on placing the reversing-lever 31 opposite to the direction in which the engine is running air will be compressed into the reservoir 13. After the engine has been running some time, the lighter oil, such as petrol, may be turned off and the heavier oil, such as paraiiin, may be turned on. When the reservoir is sufficiently charged, the haudle 31 may be set in either its middle or its forward position, when no more air will be pumped. Increase of power is obtained by setting the handle 21 forward, so as to open the augmenting-valve and the reversing-lever 31 against the engines motion, when the piston 5 will pump air into the combustionchamber, increasing the'charge for explosion at one instroke and clearing out the waste gases at the next insti-oke, and so on. This method'of increasing the power is more particularly meant for temporary use-as, e. g., in climbing hills. To reverse the engine, the handle 31 is moved to the position opposite to that in which itV was placed at starting.

`We do not confine ourselves to the abovedescribed minor details, nor do We make any claim thereto. Among other purposes our motors are very suitable for the propulsion of autocars or motor-cycles.

What we claim, and desire to secu re by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

' 1. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination of, a combustion-cylinder; an air-cylinder forming an-enlarged continuation of the combustion-cylinder; a combustionpiston; an annular air-piston in one with the combustion-piston; a crank-shaft; a pistonrod connecting the piston and crank-shaft; an admission-valve; an exhaust-valve; an ignition device; a valve-box; a port openingV from the valve-box intothe combustion-cylinder; a port opening from the air-cylinder into the valve-box; an air-reservoir communicating with the said valve-box; a valve fitted to said reservoirnormally adapted to admit air into said reservoir and prevent its return therefrom; a non-return valve located in the said valve-box and adapted to open and close the port opening from the air-cylinder into the valve-box; and means for moving the said non-return valve by hand; substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination of, a combustion-cylinder; an air-cylinder forming an enlarged continuation of the combustion-cylinder; a combustionpiston; an annular air-piston in onewith the combustion-piston; a crank-shaft; a pistonrod connecting the piston and crank-shaft;

an admission-valve; an exhaust-valve; an ignition device; a valve-box; a lport opening from the valve-box into the combustion-cylinder; a port opening from the .air-cylinder into the valve-box; an air-reservoir communicating with the said valve-box a valve fitted to said reservoir normally adapted to admit air into said reservoir and prevent its return therefrom; a non-return valve located in the said valve-box and adapted to open and close the port opening from the air-cylinder into the valve-box, an augmenting-valve also located in the said valve-box, connected tothe non-return valve and adapted to open and close the port opening from the valve-box into the combustion-cylinder; and means for moving the said non-return and augmenting valves by hand, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. v

3. In combination, the non-return valve 15, the augmenting-valve 18; the tail 19 on the' non-return valve jointed to the augmenting- Valve; the ports 16 and 25; the pivoted handlever 21; andthe rod 20 connecting the aug- 65 `the said recess; and lateral guides 130 on the back of the said non-return valve adapted to 'receive the` other end of the said non-return valve, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. 'In an internal-combustion motor, the combination with the cylinder, piston, pistonrod, crank-shaft and valve, of a shaft rotatable at the same speed as the crank-shaft; a non-circular portion of the said shaft set at an angle to the length of such shaft; a disk; anon-circular hole passing obliquely through said disk and adapted to receive the said noncircular portion of the shaft with a sliding fit; lateral guides Afor the said disk; a strap surroundingv said disk; a rigid connection between said strap and the said valve; means for moving the said shaft in the direction of its length; and means for rotating the said shaft; substantially as and-for the purpose set forth.

6. In an internal-combustion motor, the

combination with the cylinder, piston, pistonro'd, crank-shaft and admission-valve, of .a shaft rotatable at halfthe speed of the crankshaft; an exhaust-valve; a spring adapted to close the said exhaust-valve; a roller carried by the said spring and adapted to bear on the said exhaust-valve; a cam mounted on the said shaft, having a limited backlash relatively to the crank-shaft and adapted to bear on the said roller; and means for rotating the said shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination with an automatic admissionvalve, of a pivoted lever; an elastic tongue carried by the said lever and adapted to press open the said admission-valve; and means for operating the said pivoted lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination with au automatic admissionvalve, of a pivoted lever; an elastic tongue carried by the said lever and adapted to press open the said admission-valve; and apivoted hand-lever adapted to operate kon the said pivoted lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY T. DAWSON. HENRY ALFRED DAWSON.

In presence of-' THOMAS BUNOE, WM. GEORGE.

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